Wade
She’s mine.
Knowing it—hearing her say it once should have been enough. But I’m like a damn addict, needing more, again, louder. Coaxing, teasing, and working it out of her… On my knees with her hands in my hair, her back against the door to our room, the taste of her coating my tongue. Her breathless cries falling like soft rain over my shoulders.
Against the shower wall, while I give her my cock so slow and good. She says it twice.
On. The. Pull-out.
I give her everything I have. Almost everything.
I want to tell her how hot and sweet she is. I want her to hear how she makes me feel. That nothing has ever been so good. But I don’t dare say a damn word, because if I open my mouth when we’re that close, when I can feel her heart beating against mine… I’m going to tell her something it’s too soon to say.
Something that when she hears it the first time, I want her to believe with her whole heart and never doubt.
Eventually, we make it out to the truck and the abandoned travel smorgasbord.
“You really went all out,” she says with the kind of soft, satisfied smile I’d like to keep on her lips for the next fifty years or so.
But when she tries to reach for the hours-cold coffee in her drink holder, I swat her hand away. “No. This one’s no good.” Fucking tainted with heartbreak, and she’s not getting one sip.
I collect every single thing I bought before dawn including the neck pillow. I even take the charger I’d plugged in for her phone, and I dump the entire lot of it into the trash bin by the lobby door.
When I get back, Harlow’s staring at me like I’m out of my mind. But I just slide into my seat, take her hand in mine, and lean over to kiss her. Quick. Because the sun’s up and my gorgeous Good Girl was already embarrassed by the noise we made earlier.
I should feel guilty, but fuuuck, once I found that spot that made her scream… no way was I giving that up.
“You get fresh coffee and a hot breakfast.”
She’s still playing with my knuckles. Damn, that’s nice. “When are we supposed to be at your mom’s?”
Half an hour ago, but I already texted that we were running late. “After I get you fed.”
Harlow
I keep waiting for the nerves. The uncertainty. The looming sense of dread that always accompanies the slightest hint of resistance to my father’s dictates. But it doesn’t come. Not at eight, when I was supposed to be at work. Not through breakfast. Not once Wade parks me in his high school bedroom and tells me to get some sleep while he and his parents run a few last errands.
It’s like, for the very first time, every single part of me is in agreement on what it wants. Like I know what matters most… and I’m not worried about losing it.
Wade’s bed is comfortable and soft, the blue plaid comforter smells like fresh laundry. I barely remember lying down, but when I open my eyes, the light in the room is different and there’s a weight at the foot of the bed.
For a heartbeat, I think it’s Wade. But no.
I sit up fast. “Kelsey, what are you doing in here?”
She’s sitting with her knees tucked neatly together, eyes rimmed in red, and a tragic smile on her face.
“When you first got here, I didn’t know what to think. Wade never brings girls home. And I didn’t really see—” She takes a breath and holds up her hands with a helpless laugh. “I thought, she’s all wrong. It can’t last. I even let myself think maybe you weren’t really together. But I see it now.”
Her being in here while I’m sleeping is beyond inappropriate, and it isn’t even close to the oversteps she’s taken with Wade. But more than ever, I can understand why Kelsey hasn’t been able to get over Wade. If I lost him, I’m not sure I could.
I wouldn’t be like this, but I feel for her.
“I care about him very much.” I love him. It took me by surprise, but there it is. And while I’m sure, the first time I say those words, it will be to him.
A nod, and she pushes up from the bed. Walks to the bookcase filled with trophies and medals. “He deserves someone who will love him. Through thick and thin. I thought it could be me.” A fresh tear slips free. “But he wants it to be you.”
“I’m sorry, Kelsey.” What else is there to say?
“Me too.” And then with a last sad smile, she leaves the room.
I take a minute to absorb what just happened. I hear the front door close and then the sound of an engine turning over. The house is quiet and when I make my way downstairs, there’s a note on the kitchen table.
Kelsey’s getting ready at a friend’s.
When I text Wade, he calls me back within seconds.
“She was sitting on the bed?”
He sounds pissed.
“It was weird, definitely. But, Wade… I think your fake girlfriend plan actually worked.”
“Real girlfriend. You agreed. You’re mine.” His voice drops to a seductive whisper that stirs another needy ache low in my center. How is that even possible? “But I’m happy to leave my parents with the chair rental truck and come back there to remind you, Good Girl.”
“Don’t abandon your parents, please. I want them to like me. But feel free to remind me again once you’re back.”
He growls through the line and I practically float into the living room.
“Wade, I’m serious, though. Maybe this was exactly what you were hoping with Kelsey. Maybe she needed to see you with someone else.”
“Maybe she needed to see me with you.”
My heart warms. “Maybe you should hurry back here. See if we can sneak off for an hour before the rehearsal.”
There’s some rustling from his end, like he might be covering the phone. Then a muffled, “Dad, let’s wrap it up… tell Mom I’ll buy her both.” Then more clearly, “On my way.”
Turns out the hour we were hoping for ends up being more like ten minutes. But they’re ten minutes I put to good use getting Wade to tell me emphatically, repeatedly, and interspersed with a string of unintelligible cursing, that he’s mine.
Who knew a girl could get such a power trip being on her knees?
We make it to the farm for the rehearsal with a few minutes to spare. Janie’s family is fussing over her and Walt in their matching Bride and Groom T-shirts. There are cousins on ladders stringing LED lanterns around the grove that borders the clearing where the tables will be set up. And the Gradys are all smiles and hugs as we walk over to where some relation on one side or the other is coordinating the dry run.
I step off to the side where a smattering of dates hang back, watching as the bridesmaids and groomsmen are paired up and given instructions.
There’s a tiny blond girl with bright blue eyes running around like an adorable terror. And when Wade catches her on her next pass, parking her in the crook of his arm… well, that is some potent stuff.
I don’t notice that Janie’s come up beside me until she pulls me away from the group.
“Janie, this place is amazing,” I say, meaning it completely.
She nods, looking around. But when her eyes cut back to mine, there’s apology in them. “Harlow, when we started planning this, I had no idea Wade was dating someone.” I find Wade across the clearing and immediately know what she’s referring to.
He’s standing a polite distance away from Kelsey, but they are definitely paired up.
Janie bites her lip. “If I’d had any idea how she would behave when he brought someone home, I would never have—”
“Janie, no. Seriously, don’t give it a second thought. Kelsey and I are fine.” Mostly. Fine enough, anyway. “It’s all good. Promise. Now get up there.”
She gives my hand a squeeze. “Pay attention. This could be you guys in not too long.”
The rehearsal goes off without a hiccup, and the dinner after is at a local barbecue place where Janie and Walt had their first date. I catch Bill wiping a tear from the corner of his eye when Walt stands up and gives a speech about why he’s so lucky to be marrying Janie. Grace beams and Wade squeezes my hand, giving me a look that makes me believe anything is possible.
Back at the hotel, I sleep in Wade’s arms and wake up to him peppering kisses across my body.
Saturday is a day of smiles and joyful tears, dancing, and laughter. A day that ends with Wade loving me right on into the next morning and me wondering how this can be my life.
And then our ten days is over.